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HY^oon Cor\K i In 



CONKLIN'S 



MODERN 



NINEVEH AND BABYLON, 



BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THE 



ANCIENT PUEBLO PEOPLE, 



AND THEIR DWELLINGS. 




ALONG THE LINE OP THE 

ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILRO^AD 

AND THE 

SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD of ARIZONA, 

TO , 

CALIFORNIA. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by E. Conklin, 
in the Office of Librarian of Congress at Washington. 




THE PUEBLO INDIAN. 



ONE of the greatest labors of the historical and eth- 
nological department of our government, is the study of 
the origination and relative position of the so-called In- 
dians of New Mexico and Arizona known as the Pueblos. 
So different are they from what we generally understand 
by the word " Indian " the question comes up, are they 
Indian ? They have never been known as a people to 
lift a hand against the whites, and evidence a strong in- 
clination to all pursuits of industry. They are Indians 
only so far as all native inhabitants of a country are 
Indians. 

The Pueblo Indians are, unquestionably, descendants 
of the Aztecs, of whom, after the so-called anihilation of 
that people by Cortez in 1620^ perhaps naught but a 
single man and woman may have escaped to some hole 
in the rocks or mountains and there, by the cunning 
and interesting repetition of history, the beautiful story 
of Adam and the Garden of Eden told over again. One 
must doubt however, that these people had the nice big 
red apple Eve had, by the poor specimen of that fruit 
which that section of country produces. Perhaps it was 
a pinon in this case, as this nut is the national fruit 
there. It permeates every crack and corner of every 
Pueblo's residence, and the little Indian girls will in- 
terest you by coming upon the train when it reaches 
Isletta, and vending their dried and shrivelled up apples, 



and their sweet Pinoyis. A prolific year of the pinon 
indicates pestilence, and makes them a "forbidden fruit" 
in those seasons. The girls come in their native cos- 
tumes, and sing out in their musical voices their ^'Cari 
Finons.^' In these girls one can see a Pocahontas, and 
find many an American who, like Wm. Penn, fell a wil- 
ling captive to their simple charms. It is estimated 
there are about one hundred Anglo-Saxon whites mar- 
ried, legally and in the solemnization of all religious 
sects, to Pueblo Indian girls in New Mexico ; ridsing 
families, and thus raising the standard of civilization in 
the Pueblo of their adopted parentage. 

No one going to California by the Southern or " Sun- 
set" route ,^ should fail to visit some of the native Pueblo 
towns and their people. One of the most formidable 
and accessible of these is La Guna. Leaving the main 
line of the Santa Fe Road at Albuquerque, you go out 
on the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad only sixty miles. 
The train runs around the foot of the hill on which the 
town is built. The hill might be called a small moun- 
tain or plateau. La Guna interpreted means '*The 
Water." This is evidently given because a stream cir- 
cuits the mount, on its course to the valley below ; and 
Vater, in that section of country is most thoroughly 
appreciated by those there. Here the ancient building 
of Egypt and their people, Nubian in character, may be 
seen carrying water in jars upon their heads, like the 
descendants of Rebecca of Bible fame. As one ap- 
proaches this ancient cluster, and if he has ever traveled 
the Holy Land, the exclamation "Joppa from the 
North,*' or " Babylon " is apt to escape his lips, and he 
seems to have discovered remnants of Bible History in 
our own land. 



THE ZUNI AND MOQUI— THE MODEL AMERICAN INDIAN— THEIR 
VILLAGES— MODES OF LIFE— MORALS— REBECCA AT THE 
WELL— GAMES AND PASTIMES— A SACRED RITE— SHREWD- 
NESS— H OSPITALITY. 

ALTHOUGH not existing wholly in Arizona, the 
proximity of the Zuni and Moqui villages and its 
people, the Territory together with its associate inter- 
ests, prevent us from passing this wonderful people 
unnoticed. 

The old tribe of the Zuni inhabit a region extend- 
ing on both sides of the line between Arizona and 
New Mexico. They are destined to prove, or, perhaps 
are the most interesting of all our aborigines, probably 
on account of our ignorance of them. The habitation 
of these people comprise seven cities — three of v^hich 
are known as the Moqui villages, and are in Arizona. 
The main Pueblo or village is situated in the fertile 
and picturesque Zuni valley. 

The first and leading feature in a visit to this people 
is their village, or the system under which they exist 
as a community. The whole tribe of the Zuni, which 



in 76, numbered about three thousand people, live in 
one settlement. Their houses are not detached ns in 
ordinary cities, but are a system of houses massed to- 
gether in one grand structure, in the following manner. 
An elevated section of country which overlooks the 
surrounding lowlands and valleys, is selected. A 
position on this elevation, where portions of it gives a 
slope of perhaps 45^ or m-ore, is also chosen. 
Up this incline, the houses, or the sections of the one 
grand house, are built — the one over-lapping the pre- 
vious one to about a quarter or a third of its area. 
The one in the Zuni valley is six stories high, com- 
mencing at the first house, or at the bottom of the hill, 
you approach by a ladder, to the top of that house, 
and there you find the entrance (or the front door) of 
that honse, in the place where the skylight of an Amer- 
ican house is situated. From the roof of this house you 
approach the same way, by the ladder, the top of the 
succeeding house, or section of the great house, and 
proceed to enter it as you did the previous one. So 
this system is carried on throughout this communal 
condition of life. The size of the whole may be com- 
prehended when we say it covers twelve acres. The 
second leading feature is the type of some of the sub- 
jects. A few have nearly white hair, resembling gen- 
erally what is termed an English tow-head. It is only 
occasionally you will see one ; and whether these are a 




A NAVAJO INDIAN BOY, 



phenomena in the one race, or a remnant of another, is as 
yet, a query to the ethnologist. Also, specimens will 
be found exhibiting pink or blue eyes. Both of these 
classes are however, rare. In the absence of any 
metliodof chronicling events being found among them, 
they afford ample scope for the culture of the histo- 
rian. Where they came from is as anxious an inquiry 
of the ethnologist as the question " Where are they 
destined to go to?" is with the psychologist or re- 
ligionist. It is supposed that the style of dwellings is 
the result of necessary protection of by-gone times. 
Whether Cortes and his allies; whether more subse-- 
quently, the treacherous Mexican desperado of which 
at no distant day this country, was infested, perhaps 
either of these could best tell us, or whether the un- 
merciful persecutions of a more formidable tribe of In- 
dians, is a question perhaps the ancestors of the war- 
like Apache of Arizona could answer. I am of the 
opinion it was some condition of the latter. All the 
region of country included within the limits of New 
Mexico and Aiizona already traveled over or explored, 
brings to the surface new evidences of persecution, 
annihilation or submission. 

One body of ruins covering an area of many acres 
on the east side of the Colorado, between Yuma (Ari- 
zona City) and Ehrenberg, exhibit one of these inter- 
esting sections, where nothing remains to trace the 



origin, duration or occupation. Whether it was an 
extensive camp of permanent miners who were mur- 
dered by Indians, or ransacked or annihilated by out- 
laws, is likely to remain a secret. In the absence of 
positive knowledge we are apt to concede it to the 
rapacity of the more fierce and warlike Apaches. 

Although void of any system of chronicling events, 
like all the Indians of our West, the Zuni are in all 
other respects far superior, from the Anglo-Saxon 
stand-point of civilization. They are thrifty and fru- 
gal. Their lands extend for a distance of ten miles 
. east and west of the boundary line between Arizona 
and New Mexico, and seem to have been chosen with 
good discretion as they embody some of the finest 
agricultural lands on this region. For the distance of 
upwards of a hundred miles south of the Zuni vil- 
lage there is an arroya embracing a series of small 
valleys, watered by mountain streams and a system of 
natural springs which, could the device of man cause 
to share their lot with the otherwise fertile soil of the 
so-called deserts of the western part of the State, 
would cause that emblematic desert rose to assume all 
its brilliancy. The little valley of the Zuni is about 
six miles wide at the longitude of the Zuni village, 
and runs jnst here, almost due east and west. The 
Zuni village is located on the north side of the Zuni 
river, which runs directly through the centre of the 



valley. The valley is dotted here and there with 
mesas, on one of which the Zimi villages are built; 
and from the elevation of which, ranging from twenty- 
five to a hundred feet, a most charming view may be 
obtained lor three miles each way across the valley. 
It reminds one somewhat of the cheerful views in 
many of the upland valleys of Mexico. Yalleys, hills 
and • dales, nooks, rocks, and the like, present here 
that necessary diversity that pleases the sight, and 
which characterizes the Territory of Arizona as the 
traveler goes eastward. 

The crops of these people are raised without irriga- 
tion. Their principal products are corn, wheat, barley, 
pumpkins, melons, beans, and most of the vegetables ; 
and in importance and quantity range in about the or- 
der given — corn being the largest crop. Over the 
mesas and in the beautiful valleys may be seen hand- 
somely arranged garden spots equal in neatness and 
attractiveness to those of the Teutons. Peach or- 
chards varying from a quarter of an acre down. Eed 
pepper, garlic and the smaller vegetables are raised in 
gardens of various dimensions, and the gardens are 
symbols of symmetrical neatness and cleanness. They 
are attended and cultivated by the women and chil- 
dren. Although in this respect, they would seem to 
resemble the Indians in custom ; but from the fact 
that the men give their energies and time to the 



field products, they would seem to be a medium be- 
tween tbe aborigines and anglo-saxon element. They 
reminded me in this respect very much of the German. 
The gardens do better with some little irrigation, and 
the women and children do this by carrying water in 
vessels resembling the Mexican olla, placed on their 
heads. The ollas are of all sizes, and hold anywhere 
from one quart to ten gallons. The wells are of an 
original plan. They have no windlass or a means of 
a "drop." The ground is first dug until water is 
reached. An incline is then dug down to the bottom 
of the well, from a point sufficiently distant from the 
mouth of the well, to give it an angle for easy walking, 
digging out all the earth, and leaving a complete road- 
way to the bottom of the well or spring at the lower 
end of the hill. One of these wells I saw, measured 
forty feet deep and twelve square and had an incline 
approach of one hundred feet. It is an odd and pleas- 
ing sight to watch these " Eebeccas " trotting down to 
the well with their vessels on their head, and from 
their neat appearance and docile manners one has a 
profound respect and an exalted opinion of Indian life, 
after having come from the land of the greasy "Dig- 
ger " or the rapacious Apache. In their gardens one 
will scarcely find a weed. 

In the morning the men may be seen going in files 
to their fields — that is, provided you " turn out " at five 



in the morning. The division of work and rest for tlie 
day is very similar to ttie most semi-tropical countries. 
They go to the fields at early dawn, return to break- 
fast at ten o'clock (having taken a small morsel of 
something before going out, the same as they do in 
the West Indies). They do no work again until about 
three in the afternoon, avoiding the broiling sun, then 
they return to the field at that time and work until 
sun-down. 

The country being a pastoral one to a very large ex- 
tent, much stock is raised. The principal of which is 
sheep. On one occasion in 1872, one of the Caziques 
made his daughter a present of three thousand head of 
sheep. 

Goats, cattle, horses, mules, burros, (a species of the 
jackass) hogs, chickens etc., form no small part of their 
possessions. These people are very domestic. The 
men do not gamble nor become as a rule, intoxicated ; 
a condition that has become almost identical with the 
most of American Indians. 

The chastity of the women is proverbial, and the 
morality of the men is beyond reproach. In the 
Ztini villages, women are as fair as alabaster, and as 
pure as virgin marble. Even to this very day it can- 
not but be gleaned, by an association with them, that 
any one who would tamper with their sacred virtue 
would meet with the fate of the famous guide. Ester- 



van, wlio suffered death for having secretly made love 
to their women. 

Their pastimes consist in music and dancing, and 
games, the chief of which is that known among them 
as paleto. It is curious to see them exert themselves 
at this game. It is the national game. One might 
sit for some time and watch them, and then have a 
longing to join them in their skip, hop and a jump. 
It is performed after this fashion : — 

A line of men and boys are formed, in their bare 
feet. Any number may join in the game. The head 
one takes a stick (the Paleto) between his big and 
second toe. With this he starts off, giving two hops 
and a jump, at each jump, allowing his right foot to 
touch the ground, giving him a powerful spring. All 
the rest are now following close behind. Their course is 
round a common circle. If the paleto man drops his 
stick, the next, without stopping, picks it up with his 
toes, placing it in the same position as the other be- 
tween his big toe and the next. If he misses, he drops 
out of the line while the next Indian behind tries his 
luck. If he picks it up he continues on until he 
drops it and then he drops behind to the rear, as the 
one who previously had done. And so they keep up, 
he only dropping out of the line who fails to pick up 
the stick when the leader has dropped it. Thus it 
keeps up until all but one has failed to pick up the 



paleto wlien (Iropped, and Ke is claimed the victor. 
This is witnessed by a large gathering of the women, 
who, clap or shout at any great alacrity of the per- 
formers, and the last one is hailed as a sort of King 
o' the day ; has a wreath placed upon his head, and is 
the recipient of lionors, and of presents occasionally. 
This game is performed on a larger scale on fetes or 
holidays, and is a source of great merriment. Many 
a maiden will watch her lover with the most selfish 
anxiety for his success, and many such lovers will 
" lose the paleto" from the simple fact that the maiden 
is watching him. On fete days these games or per- 
formances generally end in grand processions. They 
have many fete days in which many historical events 
are commemorated. On the evenings of these days a 
sort of religious feast or entertainment is "usually held. 
It is performed with great pomp and reverence. A 
performance which was enacted with grand ceremony 
attracted our attention. Some animal, usually a 
quadruped of some kind, this time a rabbit, was placed 
on the ground with his head toward the east. In its 
fore-paws, which are stretched out before him, is 
placed an ear of corn. Before this, the spirit man 
takes his position with a bowl of meal and with lan- 
guage and gestures the stranger does not understand' 
consecrates this meal This being done, the animal 
and the ear of corn are sprinkled thoroughly with it, 



and a solemn exercise of prayer and consecration is 
gone through with. After this the animal is allowed 
to remain one day, and then taken up and eaten as a 
consecrated feast of thanksgiving for an abundant har- 
vest. On these occasions no Mexican is allowed to 
enter their domain and see their processions. 

The men and women alike, pet, idolize — fairly 
" worship " their children. Their abodes are superior 
— in fact, cannot be compared with what we under- 
stand as Indian huts. In style and material they re- 
semble Mexican buildings except their houses are 
built as we have described, eyi masse, communial — 
one and each supporting the other. The principal 
room where the members of the tribes receive friendly 
visitors, are on an average nine feet high, with seats 
running around the structure " generally covered with 
some unshorn skin of an animal such as a gbat, sheep, 
wild cat, etc., making it preferable to a hard board for 
the sitter. The floors are of stone, and the rooms are 
as a general thing, neatly whitewashed ; which is 
more than we can say of the average Mexican resi- 
dences met with in Arizona. They are clean and neat 
always. One singular thing exists. No vermin are 
to be found in the whole town; neither rats, mice,, 
roaches nor bed-bugs. A species of head lice is the 
only thing in that line, that ruffles their temper or 
destroys the equilibrium of their nerves. They are 




MI-SIIONG-I-NI-VI. — A VILLAGE OF THE MOOUIS IN 
NORTH-EASTERN PART OF ARIZONA. 



^ 



keen in trade — never getting excited or in a hurry, 
and " drive a bargain " with all the shrewdness of a 
Chatham Streeter. With an anglo-saxon training, 
these people, I should judge, would become one of the 
greatest policy people in the world. The spirit is 
innate in them ; for, until the break of friendship be- 
tween you and them is made flagrant, no outward 
manifestation is made of any slight antipathy that may 
exist between you upon slight provocations, that could 
be detected by an outside observer. The same hospi- 
tality, provided you are admitted within their limits 
at all, is extended to all : another evidence where the 
brain power has control of, and keeps the sentiments 
and impetuosities at bay. Let your visit be at any 
hour of the day or night they welcome you with tliis 
spirit. If in the night even, the same invitation for 
3^ou to partake of refreshments, or to drink some of 
their beverages, is extended. 



THE MOQUI AND ZUNI CONTINUED — THEIR DRESS— MANUFAC- 
TURES— GOVERNMENT — THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA— THE 
THE ARK AGAIN — A PRESENT FROM PRESIDENT LINCOLN— 
THAT PERSISTENT MISSION— MAJOR POWELL'S DESCRIPTION. 



THE dress is of a cotton tunic, with a loose girdle, 
extending to the knees. In cold weather a blan- 
ket, made more generally by the Moqui tribes, is 
worn. Some of these blankets are of the richest de- 
signs, and will last a life time. They are mottled with 
all colors and devices, and resemble, and would make 
very fashionable and serviceable lap-robes as used in 
American metropolitan life. Some travelers have been 
known to pay as high as one hundred dollars for one 
of these blankets, and it is estimated that to some of 
them a whole life time has been devoted. Col. E. J. 
Hinton has one of these blankets or shawls for which I 
think he said he paid forty dollars, but for which he 
would not take one hundred dollars cash. It puzzled 
the whole party to decide how the different colors 
were blended. The thread seemed to be a tightly 



twisted or *' water-twisted '* one, of fine wool — a tliread 
whicli among our modern manufacturers, is considered 
of the greatest durability. Remembering the primi- 
tive modes possessed b}^ the Indians, it is a marvel 
how they can produce such perfection. The women 
wear an outer garment falling from the neck to the 
ankle, girded at the waist, with tassels hanging from 
the girdle to the feet. Woolen leggins and high moc- 
casins of different designs ornament their feet. The 
arms of the women are generally allowed to go bare, 
(except in such cooler days or parts of the year when 
they wear the wrapper or blanket spoken of above) 
exhibiting an arm and hand that many a so-called 
belle w^ould be proud of, except that the hand will 
show the effects of a little closer intercourse with the 
material things of the world — dish-cloths and slop- 
pails — for instance. When they conceal those arms 
under the wrapper, however, it seems to be with as 
much grace as the best of 'em. Their hair is black 
and thick like the ordinary Indian, but they wear it 
with more taste, and something after the fashion of the 
Chinese women. 

Their government is more after the civilized code 
than Indian. It consists of a governor; and what 
might correspond to our Lieut. Governor. An Alcalde 
(or Mayor). Three Tenientes (or Police commissioners) 



wko are responsible for the good behavior of the peo- 
ple, and twelve Caziques (or councilmen). 

The head Cazique serves during life, and is called the 

Wakamano. The Governor also serves for life. 

The others are all elected yearly. The war chief 

during peace conducts the different kinds of hunts. 

All orders — for the govei'nment and control of 
the tribes are given by the Governor in person from 
the top of the central house to his Caziques, and the 
orders are then distributed in the different locations 
or different sections of the grand house by them. 
They walk over the different places crying at the top 
of their voices, the order as given by the Governor — 
the story of the town cryers of old resuscitated. 

In times of threatened raids from the Apaches or 
Navajoes, or impending dangers of war, they will not 
only congregate en masse in, and around their aerial 
city, but will drive up all their stock on the mesa, and 
once there they can bid defiance to an armed foe much 
greater in numbers than their own. It is supposed 
that these are the seven cities of Cibola which Coronado, 
with an armed force of Spaniards went, in 1540, from 
Mexico to conquer. It will be remembered how the in- 
habitants, although with primitive utensils of war, and 
with vastly inferior numbers, conquered the Spaniards. 
This was done by rolling huge boulders from the 
height, hurling missiles, arrows etc., at and down upon 



their foes, as tliey would endeavor to ascend the mesa. 

"These people too, have their tradition of the flood. 
They say they have lived in these mountains and 
among these valleys ever since the world was de- 
stro^^ed by a great flood. Their ancestors got into a 
floating log which happened to be floating along. 
This lo2[ in the course of dae time, and as the waters 
''soaked inlo the earth," landed on a high peak of the 
San Francisco Mountains. Shortly after their num- 
bers increased rapidly, and the Apaches attacked them, 
killing the most of their tribe, and the remainder jour- 
neyed north to where they now live. Since this time, 
with their natural fortresses of defence, to be found in 
the mesa, together with their watchfulness, they have 
defended themselves against all odds. The old Gover- 
nor — Governor Pino by name, can be often seen walk- 
ing through his little city with the air and spirit of a 
truly modest guardian. On special or state occasions, 
the Governor carries a gold -headed cane which was 
given him by President Lincoln. 

"In the centre of the town stand the remains of the 
old Catholic mission. It has not been used for wor- 
ship for over one hundred years. How old the mis- 
sion is, I am not possessed of suffiicient facts to say, 
Some records date back as far as 1732, — some older 
records being obliterated. Two old bells which re- 
main still in the belfry are stamped 1689 and 1751. 



THE ANTIQUITY OF THESE INDIANS— ARIZONA'S VICISSITUDES- 
CONQUERED AT LAST— AMERICA'S DARK AGES— A COSTLY 
BONFIRE— PRESCOTT — HUMBOLDT — BANCROFT — TO THE 
LAND OF ANCIENT LORE BY RAIL ! 



IT is a well-known fact that the antiquity of these 
people is one of the many subjects connected with 
Arizona that is ; and has been ever since the time of 
the Spanish conquest, taxing the investigation of man. 
As Governor Safford once said : " There is probably 
no portion of our domain where such a variety of 
Indians live, speaking so many different dialects, as in 
Arizona." And we might add of so many different 
customs and natural characteristics. In regard to the 
Zunis and Moquis it is now asked, "Are they Aztec, 
Toltec, or what? " The nearest we have got to it yet 
is that they are " whatever " they may be. They 
may be the descendants of the remnants of some par- 
ticular tribe, or the remnants of a score of tribes 
that suffered the incursions of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, consequent upon the invasion and conquest by 
Cortez. What a revolution was there ! What a turn- 




AN AXGIENT WAB DANCE JF THE APACHES. 



ing upside down of institutions of a civilized, culti- 
vated and refined people, who are now forgotten and 
almost obliterated by the lapse ol time. A people, 
perhaps, scientific in the extreme, and whose institu- 
tions in many respects equalled, if not excelled, some 
of those of our own civilization. With the opening 
up of Arizona, the reward to us may be commensu- 
rate with our difficulty and delay of getting a practi- 
cal admission to her. More obstacles, and perhaps 
oftener, have been thrown in the way to retard the 
opening up of Arizona than perhaps any other por- 
tion of our country. In addition to the most formid- 
able and desperate tribes of Indians that ever com- 
bated the approach of civilization, the position of 
Arizona, subjects us to the incursions of the treacher- 
ous Mexican banditti, who are as ready and willing to 
profit by any misfortune or weakness of his neighbor 
as the most rutliless Indian. Its position too, sub- 
jected it to a great drawback in 1861 and '6S by our 
civil war ; and at a time when she was again budding 
with success. 

Some men, like communities are often found in 
their egotism, congratulating themselves on the ad- 
vance — the progression they are making, having an 
infallible belief that progression, is a magnate taking 
no back tracks, and meeting with no diversions ; that 
we never lose, but always gain. That we did not lose 



anything in the destruction of the Alexandrian library, 
or that if we did it was chaff compared to what we 
gained immediately after, or by the very destruc- 
tion itself. Or that by the dark ages, although admit, 
ting they were irksome and disagreeable in themselves- 
nothing was lost. Others there are who claim to see a 
complete revolution in all things ; who claim a com- 
prehensive distinction between progress and change ; 
who rather glory in finding that which was lost, claim- 
ing nothing new under the sun, and who concede that 
the dark ages are the great Machiavels of time wlio 
cunningly and stealthily crowd themselves in to baffle 
the philosopher in his course, and who simply cover 
up — hide, things for a limited period, for our employ- 
ment and amusement in finding again. 

From 1520 to 1580, then was the " dark age " of the 
North American Continent. Enough was covered up 
during those ten years to take all the science, work, 
and philosophy of centuries to unearth. This we 
know. But we do not know but that there is much 
that will never be discovered, nor even dreamed of. 
The most of these belong or are connected, in some 
way with the people of whom we have barely made 
mention, and of whom if volumes were written, which 
has already been done, one could scarcely do more. 
To what extent these facts exist may be made clearer 



by reference to the historian, Prescott. Pi-escott says ; 
Book VI, Chap. 8 : 

" Yet the Aztecs must have been in possession of a 
much larger treasure, if it were only the wreck of that 
recovered from the Spaniards on the night of the mem- 
orable flight from Mexico. Some of the spoils may 
have been sent away from the capital ; some spent in 
preparations for defence, and more of it buried in the 
earth, or sunk in the waters of the lake. Their menaces 
were not without meaning. They had, at least, the 
satisfaction of disappointing' the avarice of their ene- 
mies. 

" Cortex had no further occasion for the presence of 
his Indian allies. * ^ * -se -jf * 

They carried off a liberal share of the spoils, of 
which they had plundered the dwellings — not of a 
kind to excite the cupidity of the Spaniards — and 
returned in triumph, (short-sighted triumph !) at the 
success of their expedition, and the downfall of the 
Aztec dynasty." 

The memorable night alluded to above was that 
which is the present patron saint day of Mexico, — tlie 
day of St. Hypolito — and was selected tnd handed 
down as such from the circumstances connected wi h 
it. 

Prescott also says, in speaking of the great quanti- 
ties of the fine arts that is known to have existed 



among the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish con- 
quest : — " The first archbishop of Mexico collected these 
paintings from every quarter, especially from Tez- 
euco, the most cultivated capital in Anahuac, and the 
great depository of the national archives. He then 
caused them to be piled up in a 'mountain heap,' as it 
is called by the Spanish writers themselves, in the mar- 
ket place of Tiateloco, and reduced them all to ashes." 

Humboldt said : — " The Mexicans (Aztecs) were in 
possession of annals that went back to eight and a lialf 
centuries beyond the epoch of the arrival of Cortez 
in the countrv of Anahuac." 

Bancroft tells ns also, that the Aztecs retained many 
traditions and systems of the Toltecs " whose written 
annals they also preserved." He also says that at the 
time of the arrival of the Spaniards, there were great 
quantities of manuscript treasured up in the country. 

A recent coi-respondence to the Philadelphia Weekly 
Press^ says: — "At the time of the conquest of Mexico, 
Cortez foimd in Mexico a people millions in number, 
according to his account, enjoying a high order of civ- 
ilization. Their government was a confederated em- 
pire of many states, a rather highly organized system 
implying large political knowledge and practical states- 
manship. Their religion was one of peace and love, 
if their temples filled with flowei's and birds and 
fountains, and their daily life and conversation and 




THE THREE INDIAN GIRLS :-AN-TI-NAINTS, PU-LU-SU 
AND WI-CHUTS. 



the many virtues transmitted to their descendants to- 
day — if these works are any evidence of their faith. 
They had wealth of gold and silver, and artistic work- 
ers in their precious metals. They had fine houses 
and great public works, temples, aqueducts, roadways. 
They had a calendar measuring the solar year more 
accurately than ours, and requiring readjustment not 
every four years, but only once in half a century. 
They had full records of their own civilization and 
history, but they were richer yet in the possession of 
ample and authentic records of the races before them." 
All these annals and paintings met the same fate. 
All things in short connected with this people that fire 
would destroy, was obliterated from the face of the 
earth. It eclipsed the decline and fall of the Roman 
empire, and the worst feaftures of history repeated 
themselves in the new world. 

Science has heretofore been confined to the ancient 
recesses of the old world. But only a sliort space of 
time will elapse when the steam car alone will lead us 
to a new field of labor in this cliannel ; curiosity and 
pleasure will follow closely in the wake of ambition's 
stronger impulse ; and Arizona, New Mexico, and our 
southwest generally will resound with notes of the 
choicest ancient lore. The tide of pre-historic study, 
will be suddenly transferred to our very doors, and the 
flash of our ignited torch cast a lurid glare on even a 
pre-Adamite existence. 



WHO IS UNACQUAINTED WITH THE GEOGRAPHY OF THIS COUNTRY, WILL 8E 
BY EXAMINING THIS MAP, THAT THE 



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IS THE GREAT CONNECTING LINK BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WESl 

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For Inrormatlon not obtainable at your home ticket office, address, 

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Gen'l Superintendent. 



E. ST. JOHN. 

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